Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-26983

Memory Safety in Imagemagick ≤ 6.9.13-40

Published
24 February 2026
Modified
24 February 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0045 37th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-26983 is a medium-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Imagemagick Imagemagick. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 37th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-16 (Memory Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. Prior to versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40, the MSL interpreter crashes when processing a invalid `<map>` element that causes it to use an image after it has been…

more

freed. Versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 contain a patch.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
Why these techniques?

Use-after-free crash in MSL interpreter directly enables application-layer DoS via crafted input.

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-25795Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-53463Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-25798Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-23952Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2023-34475Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-23353Shared CWE-476
CVE-2026-31481Shared CWE-476
CVE-2026-22722Shared CWE-476
CVE-2026-60109Shared CWE-476
CVE-2026-23286Shared CWE-476

Affected Assets

imagemagick
imagemagick
≤ 6.9.13-40 · 7.0.0-0 — 7.1.2-15

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-16 Memory Protection
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly mitigates the use-after-free (CWE-416) by employing memory protection techniques that prevent access to freed image objects in the MSL interpreter.

prevent

Validates MSL input elements such as <map> to reject malformed structures before they trigger the invalid free-then-use sequence.

prevent

Requires prompt application of the vendor patches in 7.1.2-15 / 6.9.13-40 that correct the MSL interpreter flaw.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (static analysis, code review, safe coding standards) directly prevent NULL dereference bugs during development.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing can detect NULL dereference defects before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References